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Wednesday 25th March saw millions of One Direction fans heartbroken at the news of ‘bad boy’ Zayn Malik leaving the group, mid worldwide tour. Zayn’s time in the band has been tumultuous to say the least – being in one of the biggest bands in the world, you can’t escape the limelight but after numerous rumours of him cheating on fiancée Perrie Edwards it’s hinted by bitter fans that she may be one of his reasons for leaving the band. After 5 very successful years with the band, Zayn has decided to leave saying “I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight.”
Image courtesy of Sugarscape.com
Are we really that surprised? At age 16-18 Zayn, Louis, Niall, Liam and Harry rocketed to stardom after their time on X Factor and were thrown into an unknown and often unwelcoming celebrity world. Renowned for being the centre of ridicule, One Direction have already had too much too young and I can honestly say that I don’t blame Zayn for wanting to take a step back. Not that he’ll be able to do so quietly at least for a while, if at all. He has already been relentlessly photographed by paparazzi in the days following his exit from the band – being scrutinized for everything he does, and everywhere he goes. This type of fame is the price he’s paying for the type of money he’s made; that’s not to say that being followed and criticised every second of every day is fair, most of us wouldn’t last very long at all, let alone the amount of time Zayn and his former band mates have put up with it.
Image courtesy of @zaynmalik Twitter
I wouldn’t exactly call myself a superfan of One Direction, after all I wasn’t particularly moved by the news of Zayn’s departure, but I do listen to their music from time to time and I have to admit my first reaction was “but he’s the hot one!!” So I will happily join in with the #ZaynPain hashtag, but I think #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik which is currently trending on Twitter, may be taking it a bit too far…he’s not dead! It seems a lot has happened since the heart-breaking news to fans – Buzzfeed reported that streams of One Direction’s music since the news is up by 769%, Simon Cowell released a statement confirming that even after Zayn’s departure the band will continue with the rest of their tour and will still be making music. The life of One Direction seems to be over for Zayn, but for the others they’re only 5 years into a lifelong obsession.
Image courtesy of news.com.au
By Talia Maguire
